Degrees in wine, travel

Uni ‘bludge’ courses questioned

UNIVERSITY students are being taught to taste wine, brew beer, travel, meditate and “how to have a difficult conversation”.

A semester-long subject even teaches students how to study at university.

Other offerings at Victoria’s top universities include puppets as storytellers, body balance and fairytale traditions.

Stressed-out students can also enrol in body balance, meditation or the wellbeing orchestra, where Tibetan singing bowls help them “release from self-judgment”.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Jenny Lambert warned a transcript with too many “easy” subjects would raise the eyebrows of potential employers.

“The attitude of a university graduate is equally as important as the subjects they study,” Ms Lambert said.

“You’d want to hope that your employer couldn’t read your transcript and say, ‘ you did some pretty easy subjects at uni’.

“It’s OK to do a couple, but don’t let it rule your life or the way you apply yourself.

“Employers will see through people who cruise through university. That, in won’t serve you well in the workplace.”

Melbourne University’s Going Places — Travelling Smarter subject aims to “enhance any travelling experiences” for “cosmopolitanminded students”.

Ethical Hacking, to be offered at Deakin University next year, challenges students to launch cyber attacks.

And Swinburne offers a $720 short course on how to have a difficult conversation for “the sort of person who avoids conflict, shuts down in challenging conversations, or takes an aggressive stance”.

Melbourne University graduate Jake Winther admitted to enrolling in wine tasting as a “bludge subject”.

But Mr Winther has since launched Trutta Wines and works as a wine buyer for a Melbourne restaurants.

“I didn’t have much interest in wine before that,” he said.

“I did that subject as a bit of a bludge, but it actually ignited a passion in me.

“From that course, another friend moved to Germany to work as a winemaker and a third person also worked at vineyards.”

Australian National University’s Bruce Chapman said it was impossible to measure the social benefit of a degree.

“You can’t become a dentist if you don’t know how to pull teeth,” Professor Chapman said. “But you can become a public servant just from studying philosophy.”

“Employers will see through people who cruise through university. That, in the end, won’t serve you well in the workplace.” JENNY LAMBERT